Ladies team: We’re here to win the gold

BUSAN — Unfamiliarity with the course will not stop the members of RP women’s golf team from fulfilling their golden dreams in the Busan Asian Games here.

Heidi Chua, for one, is not fazed by the fact that she and her two other teammates — Carmellete Villaroman and Ria Quiazon — have yet to se foot on the Asiad Golf Club which is just similar to the Camp John Hay layout in Baguio City.

The golf competition in the men’s and women’s divisions will be held Oct. 3-6 with practice rounds scheduled for three days until the Oct. 2.

"The men’s team did some practice rounds here during a short visit two weeks ago and somehow, they’ve given us an idea of how it’s like… how the greens are set up" said Heidi, a pretty 27-year-old and the reigning RP Ladies Open champion.

"It doesn’t matter actually. Because if you play well, pare-pareho na ‘yang course sa lahat," Heidi told a couple of scribes while enjoying a stroll with Carmellete and golf official Alice Andrada just outside the athletes’ village on a cold Friday afternoon.

Quiazon, a Fil-American, will plane in Sunday from the US to join the team that will see action in the three-to-play, two-to-count women’s format, and try to improve on the country’s bronze medal finish in the Bangkok Asiad four years ago.

Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales, now making waves in the LPGA, were in the previous team, and filling in their shoes, according to Heidi, is just one of the challenges they are facing now.

"Fill in their shoes? Well, were ready and we’re fine. We’ve trained hard for this and I think we have a big chance. We came here to win," added Heidi, who pointed to the Koreans and the Japanese as their biggest rivals in the battle for the gold.

Carmellete, who celebrates her 26th birthday today, said the same of the two rival teams but added that the fact that so much attention has been paid to the men’s team might just work for the women.

"Siguro mas-maganda na din na sila ang napapansin palagi," said Carmellete.

"It’s fine with us because that way, everything’s there for us to gain here," echoed Heidi, part of the team that won the bronze in last year’s Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

"Just pray for us."